A Thousand Years
by bordeaux cookies
Summary: The first time she had met him, their conversation had ended with him saying "two months"—two words that had haunted her ever since. Despite it all, Annabeth decides to spend her time with this enigma of a boy, striving to find out the meaning of his words. Never would she have thought to discover the true meaning of love along the way... but is she too late to realize it?
1. Two Months

**A Thousand Years**

Chapter One: Two Months

"_Heart beats fast..."_

She never thought that a single day could affect her life in such a way that it seemed to shift everything on its axis and spin it in the opposite direction.

It was all because of him. He was nice, yes, and sweet—of course—but the thing that really made him stand out to her was the aura of mystery he radiated. Simply being around him immediately soothed and calmed her. It was an effect that she had never experienced before.

She could still remember the words he had last muttered to her—the words that had haunted her over the past three days since she last saw him.

"…_Two months_…"

Two months. What did that mean? Two months until his eighteenth birthday? Two months until graduation? Two months until he could leave home?

What was the context he used "two months" in? She couldn't figure it out, and this not knowing tormented her. She absolutely _abhorred_ this feeling of surrender to the world, a world where she didn't know anything.

Yet she still couldn't decipher the meaning behind those two words.

Two months.

:-:-:-:-:

He had always hated himself. Small reasons, large reasons; there was always some way, direct or not, to relate a problem or issue to him and blame himself for it.

After all, what did he have to lose?

He was going to get out of the house as soon as he could… just two meager months away. (Unless the miracle came, of course.) But how long would he last? He couldn't help but ask himself that question over and over again.

It was another thing he hated about himself: the insecure, timidity he had.

However, he had never hated himself as much as he did now. He had cursed himself repetitively for the past three days. Why hadn't he just kept his mouth shut? Why was it so hard to do around her? And to a girl he had only known for an hour or so!

Yet the words had risen up his throat and slyly slipped out of his lips, not like a rushing torrent of waves, but a slow, steady stream, in a way it had seemed as if it was carefully calculated when it wasn't. Those words hadn't been meant to be spoken, and most definitely not to her.

She was an inquisitive type—that he knew for sure. He did assume, however, she was racking through her brains in attempt to decode the meaning of "two months." That was the first image he got of her: stubborn, smart, and determined.

She was also undoubtedly dangerous to be around, somehow compelling him to tell her things he had never exposed to anyone. Yes, dangerous, very dangerous.

And despite how much he wanted someone else to know, he cowered from the mere idea that this random stranger might discover it; might discover _him_. It terrified him to pieces—the fact that she knew part of it, the fact that she could potentially decrypt it all. Even his parents didn't know the full of it.

It wasn't that they didn't bother to, but more so that they weren't fully capable of delving far enough to do so. No one was—or at least he was once sure no one was.

Of course, now, he wasn't fully certain.

:-:-:-:-:

"Annabeth!" A man's voice echoes down the long corridor, the low bellows drifting in the room through the cracks under the closed door. "Annabeth, wake up!"

At the sound of her father's voice, the bed shifts, a bed sheet slithering off the mattress and onto the carpet covered ground. The figure in the bed lets out a quiet yawn, her eyes blearily blinking open and adjusting to the rays of sunlight peering in through the closed curtains.

She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, emitting another groan as she stretches her arms over her head, reaching her slim fingertips as far as she is capable. Her thoughts are unusually clustered and disorganized, but many of them focus on one thing, rather, one person.

At the sound of footsteps growing nearer, the noise undoubtedly her father's loafers clambering against the wooden ground of the hallway, she pats her hair down and sits up, dangling her feet off the edge of the bed. The door bursts open with a loud click, revealing her frenzied father.

"Annabeth, why on earth did you choose _today_ to oversleep?" her father, Frederick, exclaims, his eyes wide and panicked. "I have a job meeting with the college dean, who, might I add, does _not_ have an appreciation for anything other than punctuality!"

She rubs her eyes gingerly, taking in the sight of her frantic dad, a frown forming on her lips as she glances at the clock sitting on her side table. _Crap! It's already 7:30! _

"I'm so sorry, Dad! I've just been so tired lately," —_since him_, she thinks to herself— "and my head's been elsewhere…"

Her father's foot taps on the ground in an impatient manner. "Annabeth, do you think you can get a ride from a friend today? Because if I wait any longer I'm bound to be even later…" he says, his eyebrows furrowing.

Although she doesn't, Annabeth nods her head; her eyelids fluttering shut for a moment before she jerks them open again. By the time she looks up, her father's already half-way out the house.

"Thanks, sweetie! Don't be late for school! Love you, Annie!" he cries over her shoulder.

Nodding her head absentmindedly once more, she's tempted to go back to bed and simply lay under the covers. _Why does it have to be so bright outside? Why can't the sun go away? Why can't he get out of my head?_

She shakes her head to herself, her tangled waves surrounding her face, her utterly _attractive_ bedhead in full swing. _Up, Annabeth, up. You can't miss school in the middle of the year,_ _even if it's senior year!_

And so, begrudgingly, she drags herself out of her bed, nearly falling off of it in the process, and into the bathroom to freshen up.

:-:-:-:-:

Percy pulls his shades over his eyes in attempt to block out the sun's rays as he cruises down the road at a leisurely pace. It was pointless for his parents to buy him a car, but he always told himself to make the best out of it either way.

Even to the extent of giving others rides to school.

So when he sees a girl walking on the side of the road, a backpack slung across one shoulder, he pulls over, offering her a ride, despite the _danger! _warning signals cycling throughout his head. When she lifts her head, her long strands of hair revealing her face, he almost regrets pulling over.

_It's her. The girl you talked to at the carnival. The dangerous one_, Percy mutters to himself inwardly.

She doesn't say anything to him, simply staring at him with an opaque expression stretched across her cheeks bones, as if she was in profound thought. "…"

With a slight clear of his throat, he rakes his fingers through his untamable hair in an almost nervous habit. "You go to, uh, Goode, right?" Percy questions, and her once penetrating gaze drops to the floor of the car in a submissive way.

The girl nods mutely, adjusting the strap of her bag which still lies across her shoulder.

"Do you need a ride?" He asks this not only because she was indubitably going to end up late if she walked the remaining way, but also, to be blunt, he had no clue where he was going.

Her eyes—a mysterious gray, a color he had once thought was a prosaic tone—rise and look at Percy's face intently in a concentrated manner. She bites her lip, holding back words, before nodding and slipping into the passenger seat of his car, setting her bag on the ground.

"Thanks." Her pithy response is short and direct, and Percy decides that for once, he'd have to do more talking than his taciturn companion.

"Yeah, it's no problem… where exactly is school though? I'm new around here…" Percy trails off awkwardly, the uncomfortable silence engulfing him.

The girl in the seat beside him lets out a slight snort, followed by bursts of laughter, causing a bit of heat to rush to his cheeks. Was he really that gawky? It wasn't like he had a degree in eloquence, but it wasn't _that_ bad when he talked… was it? Besides, why is their conversation so… vacuous and dull? It had flowed easily just three days earlier…

He stops at a red street light, deciding to make a right, and waiting for the girl to answer.

"Sorry about that," she laughs slightly. "Anyways, you turn right here and then go straight until you reach the second stop sign, where you make a left."

"'Kay," Percy replies, and then they lapse into a period of silence once again.

"So you just moved here?" she asks after a minute, breaking the stillness of the moment.

He keeps his eyes trained on the road, but nods his head slightly, signaling the affirmation of her question. "Yeah." _Dangerous, Percy, she's dangerous, _he reminds himself, mentally biting his tongue to keep from telling more. He had never had the compulsion to tell anyone, well, _anything_, until her.

Almost as if she senses his hesitation and vagueness, she doesn't question him or force him to elaborate, and for that, he's thankful.

He turns into the parking lot of their school, glancing at the rather large, yet dismal building of his new high school. Changing the gear to park, he cuts off the engine of the car and removes the key.

Percy turns to his right and sees the girl has already picked up her bag and allowed herself to unlock the door, already mid-way out of the car. When she's completely out, she pauses for a moment, looking at Percy.

"Thanks…" she starts.

He supplies, "Percy."

With a small smile on her face, she says, "Thanks, Percy, for the ride. Only the Lord knows what would have happened if I was late to Ms. Dodd's class…"

"You're welcome." The words are unfamiliar to his mouth, but somehow slip out anyway, as it had the tendency to do around her. Just like those two other words.

Her lips purse and she puts her hand on the car door, closing it.

Percy has the urge to ask this hazardous stranger what her name is, but quickly squashes the impulse, not wanting to propel his curiosity even further.

But as if she had read his mind, she smiles at him knowingly and says one word before the door closed completely shut.

He opens his own door and steps out, a corner of his lip quirking upwards. "_Annabeth_," Percy says, trying out her name—the word—on his lips. _So that's what her name was. _Annabeth, the mysterious, dangerous, and completely gorgeous stranger he had become acquainted with three days previous.

Shoving his hands in his pockets and slinging his bag on his back, Percy shakes his head to himself, and walks into school, wondering how he would ever be able to keep his problems to himself with a girl like her around.

A girl like Annabeth.

"_Colors and promises…"_

**NB:**

- 19 chapters, 14 are already prewritten, all from 1.2-3k I think? It'll keep at T, but chapter 15 somewhat nears the M rated line, just as a heads up. There's also another warning at the top of that particular chapter.

- Anything medical is bullshit. I took the main symptoms from the disease (oh, spoiler alert) and just weaved in my imagination. So yeah.

- Will be updated once a week, or maybe every two/three weeks, most likely depending on the read counts, I guess. Probably not in July... but yeah I'll update when I can find a computer during July.

- Also, I wrote most of this a year ago, so if anything is crappy we'll just blame it on that, haha.

- But yeah, I just wanted to post something since HITS probably won't be updated for a bit more. Please review? And most of all, enjoy :)

- Disclaimer: **I do not own Percy Jackson, the song, **_**A Thousand Years**_**, or anything else that may be referenced or used.**


	2. Disgust

**A Thousand Years**

Chapter Two: Disgust

"_How to be brave?"_

Surprisingly enough, he doesn't see her—as in Annabeth—all day until lunch time comes around. Even then, he makes no effort to talk to her, or even looking around for her, instead, sauntering towards the lunch line.

Percy's stomach flips in his abdomen as he peers down at the cafeteria food behind the glass. _They call this food? _He makes a mental note to himself to bring lunch from home from now on, before requesting… _mystery meat. _

_ Definitely a mystery, _Percy muses to himself. He recalls the _Les Miserables_ movie with Hugh Jackman in it, that he had been forced to sit down and watch by his mother—and secretly enjoyed, of course.

"_Food beyond compare. Food beyond belief,_

"_Mix it in a mincer and pretend it's beef._

"_Kidney of a horse, liver of a cat,_

"_Filling up the sausages with this and that."_

He vaguely wonders what _exactly_ the meat before him was made of, before shaking his head and removing the thought from his mind. _Just don't think about it. _He fills his tray with other foods—all, which look decently better than the meat—paying for it, and returning to an empty table in the courtyard.

Sitting down at a table enclosed by an umbrella, he sighs to himself. Everyone seems to have a place, seems to belong. _The perks of moving in the middle of the year, _he thinks grimly.

_ Loner. Outcast. Better off dead, better off gone. _The words echo in his ears, an endless ringing noise like the annoying bee buzzing around your head.

Percy feels his phone vibrate in the front pocket of his jeans.

_How are you doing, honey? Feeling okay?_

He sighs, quickly typing out a reply to his mom.

_I'm fine, Mom._

It's not like he hates his mother. In fact, he believed Sally Blowfis was the best mom anyone could ask for. Moments later, his phone buzzes again, but this time, unlike the first, he ignores it. Instead, he chooses to drink down water to soothe his parched throat.

But immediately, he begins coughing, his phlegm stuck in his burning throat, and he chokes on the water. _Dammit, _he thinks, when his coughing attack ends. He glances around to see if anyone noticed, but to his disappointed relief, no one makes any move to ask if he was okay.

Percy averts his attention back to his food, setting the water bottle back on the table. _Food. _Nothing had ever disgusted him more than in that moment. How had he ever thought _anything_ on his plate was even the slightest bit appealing?

Again, he glances around the cafeteria, this time looking for the randomly placed trashcan to dump the garbage on his tray in. When he spots one, he gets up, tosses his Styrofoam tray away, and exits the courtyard.

:-:-:-:-:

She gets to the lunch room late that day—_curse Mr. D for holding her back to discuss tutoring another kid; she honestly didn't want to be a tutor!_—and as she enters, she looks for three people.

One: Piper. Her friend isn't so hard to find, with her choppy chocolate hair, worn down ski jacket, wide kaleidoscope eyes, and eye-catching flailing arms that beckon Annabeth over to her table.

As Annabeth sits down, she searches for the second person in her list: Jason. Jason Grace, a Latin addict, who she assumed had a thing for Piper that was little more than simply friendship.

"Where's Jason?" she asks Piper, when she doesn't seem him anywhere.

Piper shrugs in reply, her cheeks turning red although she looks at Annabeth with a half-annoyed expression. "I don't know, but if he was here, I wouldn't have had to sit alone for the first _fifteen_ minutes," she says accusingly. "Where were you?"

Annabeth picks the crust off her sandwich in disgust. "Mr. D," is all she needs to say to Piper, and the kaleidoscope-eyed girl wrinkles her nose and nods in understanding.

"I honestly don't know where he is," Piper adds, munching carrots in her mouth. "He didn't reply to my text either."

She nods, acknowledging Piper's statement. But her mind is elsewhere.

Three: _Percy._ Where would he be?

Had he made friends already and went to hang out with them? She wouldn't have been surprised; one of the first things she noticed about him was that he was good-looking.

But he hadn't seemed much of a talker… and one thing about Goode was that the students here _lived_ to talk.

Maybe he had been targeted by jocks, and they had bullied him, leaving him in some toilet, or sending him to the nurse's office…

Then again, he radiated some 'don't piss me off or you _will_ regret it' aura, so she was positive he hadn't been bullied in any way.

So where was he, if he wasn't in the lunchroom, or a toilet, or the nurse's office? Maybe he was at the gazebo? Surely he wouldn't be—no one was ever there—that was social suicide!

"Annabeth? Are you listening to me?" Piper questions impatiently, bursting into Annabeth's thoughts. _She must be PMSing this week… _Annabeth chuckles to herself, before averting her attention to her petulant friend.

:-:-:-:-:

Somehow, he ended up in the bathroom.

He isn't a vain person, by any means, but he can't help but study himself in the mirror. His hand came up to cup his throat, massaging the tan skin of his neck. He turns his head to the side, studying his face in a profile view.

His heart pulsates, his lungs shake, but he quickly inhales deeply, ignoring the incessant throbbing. He just needed that phone call, and then everything should be okay.

A wave of exhaustion crashes down on him—a compilation of effects from his first day at Goode— and Percy has the sudden compulsion to sit. He eyes the ground warily, not wanting to think about whatever gross matter coats the floor, and decides to find some serene place around the school to rest for a moment.

He exits the disgusting bathroom, wandering along the halls for a quiet place. As Percy turns a corner, he hears a voice, undoubtedly male, talking to themself. He walks closer to the guy pacing the halls, listening to their inner debate.

_"No… How about, I think you're really pretty and—argh, no! Why would she ever say yes to me… Snap out of it, dude! Just say it as it comes out…"_

The boy suddenly turns around saying, "So will you go out with me?" After the words come out, Percy's eyes interlock with the other boy's electric blue ones, and he sends him a look of confusion and slight horrification.

"I'm not like that," Percy immediately blurts out, turning a shade of red. "Sorry, dude."

The other male's face holds an even darker flush to it, and his eyes widen in mortification. "I'm not either! Shit. I wasn't talking to you!"

"… You were talking to yourself then, I presume?"

"No, well, yes, but…" He lets out a deep breath, trying to figure out his next words as Percy waits patiently with a hint of amusement. "You see, I really like this girl, and I want to ask her out because she's the most amazing person I've ever met… and I'm telling a random stranger this, while I can't bring myself to tell her it herself. God, how pathetic am I?"

Percy gives the guy a small shrug, not knowing what to say, seeing he had never been in an actual relationship. "I don't normally do stuff like that, but whatever you were about to say to me sounded pretty good in terms of what you should tell her." _Did that even make sense?_

But from the grin on the other boy's face, it's apparent he had explained it to where it was at least comprehensible. "… Actually, you know, that might work! Thanks, dude."

Again, Percy shrugs, glad to give at least some help. "No problem; hope it works out with you and her."

The guy grins even more, holding out his hand for Percy to shake. "Jason Grace: the guy you just helped out, who's in love with Piper Mclean. Oh, and I am most _definitely_ straight."

"_How can I love when I'm afraid to fall…"_

**NB: **

_Master of the House – Les Miserables _


	3. Reverie

**A Thousand Years**

Chapter Three: Reverie

"_But watching you stand alone?"_

He skips out on lunch the next day as well, deciding to spend the period roaming the halls of Goode.

As Percy walks past a closed janitorial closet, he hears muffled groans and moans coming from it, and he chuckles to himself. _Horny bastard couldn't keep his hands off his girl. _Of course, he feels sorry for the girl, too. No woman should have to experience something that intimate in such a random, dirty setting. There would always be a better time and a better place to cuddle—or do more than cuddle—with your girl.

But he doesn't go and stop them—gross, no—instead, making a reminder to himself to never use that closet for anything, and walking _far_ away from there. He didn't want to find out whoever was in there, christening the janitor's materials.

_Art room… Drama room…_ He must be in the electives building. _Film room… Chorus room…_

Chorus room.

That's where he would go.

Percy pushes open the double doors and enters the room. It's empty, with many chairs and notebooks, but he discards those without a single thought. No, all his attention is focused on the baby grand piano in the corner of the room.

He walks over to it, his hands skimming against the shiny black surface of the lid and then he opens it to reveal the glossy black and white keys. An audible sigh passes through his lips, and before he knows it, he's sitting down, trying the piano out.

The simple C Major scale is music to his ears, the notes ringing out in perfect melody.

Almost excitedly, like a child receiving a fifty dollar gift card to a candy store, he flexes his fingers and begins playing one of his favorite pieces, _Reverie_ by the composer Debussy.

The music flows around the room, and he is in his own personal reverie. For the first time in a long time, he loses himself from the hateful world he lives in, pouring his heart and soul into the piano.

:-:-:-:-:

Jason had finally asked Piper out, and Annabeth was overjoyed!

She didn't know what exactly had suddenly compelled him to ask her, but when she had asked Jason about it, he blushed pink and shrugged his shoulders, not giving her an answer. Although the urge to find out was intense, she squashed it to save Jason from his embarrassment.

But now it was lunch, and the two of them were acting lovey-dovey towards each other. Annabeth guessed that it was because both Jason and Piper had hidden feelings for the other for so long, and now that it was exposed, they could act on it.

It was kind of weird eating her lunch while across from her, her best friends are whispering and laughing and hugging each other. She had never been a third wheel before.

So, she had packed up her lunch and decided to eat with Percy, wherever he was.

The thing is… she can't find him.

Did he not ever eat lunch? Did he not have anywhere to sit?

Annabeth looks around the half-empty courtyard and dismisses that idea.

Maybe he got held back in a classroom?

She glances back at her friends, who seem to be in deep discussion, and makes an instant decision. Tossing her lunch into the trashcan, she sets off on finding wherever Percy wanders to.

_ The school isn't that large, so it can't be hard to find him, right? _That's her original thought, but after ten minutes of searching, Annabeth still has no idea where he would be. There were only fifteen minutes of the lunch period left, and so if she can't find him today, she would search again tomorrow.

Annabeth passes by the infamous closet—a hot spot for making out—and when she hears their occupants, she rolls her eyes and wrinkles her nose in disgust. High-schoolers these days.

As she enters the arts building, she suddenly hears soft, melodic music playing from the chorus classroom. Annabeth knew the chorus teacher was skilled at piano, but she hadn't realized how talented he actually was.

She walks closer to the classroom; the double doors opened a peek, not fully shut. The music is flawless, and as the dynamics grows louder, the mood of the piece changes into something heated.

But then it crashes into the previous softer melody, like a once angry wave fading to kiss the warm sand of the beach.

By now, her ear is pressed up against the door of the chorus room, and Annabeth simply stands there in an awed silence as she listens to the music. _How many years had the teacher spent learning piano to play like that?_

He starts to play a new piece, and unlike the previous song, Annabeth can identify the name and composer within the first few opening measures.

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, composed by Chopin.

Her mother would play it before Annabeth went to sleep every night, before she passed away. It was both her mother and her favorite classical piece, and Annabeth had always wished she knew how to play.

The teacher that was currently playing pressed down on the keys harder with their right hand so the melody would ring louder above the harmony in the bass.

Annabeth's eyes flutter shut as she listens to the music, and she decides that once the piece finishes, she's going to compliment the teacher on their playing, because it truly was beautiful.

She peeks through the slight opening in the door to watch the teacher's fingers fly across the piano as he plays, but Annabeth doesn't see the teacher. Instead, she sees a boy at the piano; a boy with a mop of black hair and lean body.

It takes her a moment to realize its Percy, and she stifles a gasp.

_Percy? Percy is playing this?_

To say she's surprised is an understatement. She hadn't known he played the piano—or that he was really _really_ good at it either. Come to think of it, she didn't know much about him at all.

But a concert pianist in the making? She never would have thought.

She shuts her eyes close for a minute, before opening them again, making sure it is actually Percy at the piano, and that she isn't just seeing things. But when her eyes reopen, he's no longer there.

Is she going delusional from thinking about him so much? Was it all a hallucination? Annabeth shakes her head to break out of her supposed reverie.

Suddenly, the door opens, and she nearly falls on the floor from shock.

Percy's standing, holding both doors open, and Annabeth flushes from the embarrassment of being caught. He looks at her confused and curiously, and she looks down, words blurting from her mouth:

"Can you teach me how to play piano?"

"_All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow…"_

**NB:**

_Reverie – Debussy _

_Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 – Chopin _


	4. Memory

**A Thousand Years**

Chapter Four: Memory

_"__One step closer…"_

_"__Can you teach me how to play piano?"_

He shakes his head clear. Had Annabeth really asked him that? Or was he simply imagining things? Slowly, his eyes opened and closed, and sure enough, Annabeth was still standing right in front of him, looking at him expectantly.

"I-um, what?" Percy asks in a stutter, not because he's nervous—although admittedly, he is—but because he's not quite sure what she's asking. He never was the smartest guy.

She laughs, and Percy decides it's a laugh to settle the awkwardness rather than to laugh at him, and so he joins in briefly, despite his clenching stomach. "Can you teach me how to play piano?" Annabeth enunciates every word so it reaches his ears with clear diction.

This time he doesn't answer, simply because he doesn't know how to respond. Instead, he stares into her gray eyes, watching her as she holds his gaze, timidity starting to sink into her skin.

"That was you playing earlier, right?" she clarifies, her eyes searching for an answer in the depths of his. "You were really good, so I was wondering if you could teach me."

The corner of his upper lip twitches upward in the making of a smile. "Why me?"

Her eyes drop from the connection between his sea green ones as she answers. "Well, I guess I wanted to know you better. We could just do the lesson here, during lunch… if you want." Her voice lowers to a mumble, and he can tell that she's suddenly self-conscious of herself by the way her teeth tug into her lower lip.

Staring at Annabeth's lips, he has the sudden urge to stop her from biting her lip… with his own. Percy coughs, suddenly remembering he hadn't replied to her yet. "Uh, sure."

She's looking at him again; her gray eyes bright as she offers Percy a smile. "Thank you." It looks like she wants to say more, but she doesn't, and neither does he. The words between them are unspoken and unneeded.

When the bell rings, breaking their silent conversation, Percy coughs again, slipping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and shifting his weight onto his left leg.

Annabeth's mouth opens, closes, and then opens again, only to murmur out a single word: "Tomorrow?" Her eyes gaze up at him innocently and anxiously, and his heart pounds in his chest ferociously.

He nods. "Tomorrow."

:-:-:-:-:

She can't stop the smile on her face as she makes her way to next period English class.

Annabeth didn't know what compelling force within her resulted in asking Percy to teach her to play piano, but she was glad it was there. Maybe now, she could get to know him better. Maybe she could finally figure out what "two months" meant.

As class begins, Annabeth sits in her desk, leaning on the palm of her hand, as her elbow rests on the table. The teacher begins to drone about remarkable pieces of English literature, but Annabeth isn't paying attention.

No, she's day-dreaming…

…She's remembering.

:-:-:-:-:

_It was a relatively chill Friday night—as chill as April nights get. She had been at the carnival that was in town with Jason and Piper when she had first seen him._

_He was standing alone, holding a blue wand of cotton candy in his hand, as he stared up at one of the rides. It looked like he was in deep thought, debating whether or not he should ride it. _

_But it was his eyes that had captivated her. They were a deep green like the sea, glittering under the artificial lights used to light up the night. He was completely concentrated, and she was utterly mesmerized. _

_ "__Annabeth! Let's go to the House of Mirrors!" Piper said, calling her over. _

_She shook her head, breaking her gaze away from him, and followed Piper and Jason into the next event. _

_In the House of Mirrors, it was dark, but it was empty. Jason and Piper had wandered off into some other room, while Annabeth had chosen a room and stayed in it. Her hand came up to touch one of the mirrors, and all around her, her reflection did the same._

_She smiled to herself slightly, spinning around with her arms spread out, watching her reflections do the same. When she finally stopped out of dizziness, Annabeth laughed, falling to the ground with her eyes closed_

_When her eyes opened, in the mirror, she saw a boy looking at her in all of the mirrors. An eerie sensation travelled down her spine, not because a stranger was staring at her so intensely, but because she knew who the stranger was._

_Those sea green eyes unmistakingly belonged to the boy with the cotton candy._

_Annabeth's head throbbed, her mind still spinning, and it forced her to shut her eyes once more. When the dizziness subsided, he was gone. _

_She raced out of the House of Mirrors in attempt to find him, but only got so far due to running smack-dab in the middle of Jason's chest. "Whoa there, Annabeth," he joked playfully. "Didja see a ghost in there or something?"_

_Piper and Jason both laughed, but Annabeth didn't join in. Her gaze flitted all around her, but the boy with sea green eyes and a mop of black hair had seemingly disappeared. She breathed out in disappointment, although it went unnoticed by her friends._

_ "__Let's go on the Ferris wheel next," Annabeth offered, sighing in defeat. With all the people at the carnival that night, the chances of finding him again were close to none. The time in the House of Mirrors had simply been a fluke._

_The line for the Ferris wheel was surprisingly short, although each booth only accepted two people. Knowing Piper's crush on Jason, she let them go in the first one, saying that she'll be in the one after them… alone._

_As the doors for her carriage were about to close, another person stepped on, without bothering to ask if they could join her. But when she looked up at the intruder, somehow, she didn't mind at all._

_It was him._

_The carriage ascended slowly, and Annabeth looked out past the barriers to see all of the carnival in full blast. She couldn't see any stars out, what with all the lights emitted from the carnival booths, but the sky had never looked prettier._

_When her eyes shifted to look at the boy across from her, she saw that he, too, was staring at the scenery around them. Only, his face was growing more and more pale as every second past, their carriage getting higher and higher into the sky. _

_She decided that he was scared of heights, and that she would distract him. "You're the guy I saw in the House of Mirrors." Annabeth winced as her words came out; she hadn't meant to make it sound so accusatory. _

_Nevertheless, it caused him to tear his eyes away from the ground that was slowly getting smaller and smaller. "It would seem so." She would have never been able to tell he was afraid of heights by his voice alone, for it was only his face that broke the façade._

_ "__I've never seen you here before," Annabeth said, much more gently than the first time._

_His sea green eyes bore into hers as he spoke. "I don't go out much."_

_ "__So why are you out now?" She cringed again at her terse voice. _

_He didn't seem affected as he shrugged weakly. "It's a beautiful night."_

_She couldn't have agreed more. Annabeth felt like she should say something else, but the electrifying look he had given her had practically muted her. Instead, she took this moment to truly look at him._

He is most definitely handsome_, she decided, after a moment's glance. _Not just handsome, but hot too_. Annabeth bit her lip, in attempt to control her blush. _And he's mysterious. Very vague. Very quiet.

_ "__Want some?" His slightly husky voice broke her out of her staring, and surprisingly, he wasn't smirking at her even though she knew _he knew_ she was checking him out. Blinking to readjust her eyes after staring for so long, Annabeth realized he was holding yet another blue wand of cotton candy._

_She smiled, nodding her head somewhat nervously, and taking some of the sticky fluff in her hands, before popping it into her mouth. "Thanks."_

_He nodded, smiling slightly at her. "You're welcome."_

_Silence fell upon them for the second time, even though they were only about a quarter of the way up. This time, however, Annabeth decided to break the silence. "You have a ring on your necklace."_

_Annabeth stared at him, gauging his reaction. Was it too personal of a question? Would he close up more than opening up? Her fingers came up to twist the ring she had around her own necklace._

_He chuckled slightly, his body finally relaxing. Although she didn't understand why he was laughing, Annabeth felt oddly relieved that he wasn't so tense anymore. "As do you."_

_She nodded, dropping the ring so it fell back onto her chest. "It's my dad's."_

_He pursed his lips, nodding slightly as he picked up his own ring. "It's my mom's wedding ring when she married my dad."_

_Annabeth deduced that either his father had passed away, or his parents had divorced. Why else would his mom not be wearing her own wedding ring?_

_As if he could hear her thoughts, the boy added, "She's remarried now. Dad died a while back." She knew he wasn't looking for sympathy—it's been a while, he said, since his father had died—and so Annabeth simply nodded. "Paul is pretty cool though."_

_Paul must be his stepdad._

_ "__My dad never remarried. I guess I never thought about whether I wanted a stepmother or not," Annabeth said, gazing up at the night sky. They were almost to the peak, now, and a wave of exhilaration passed through her. _

_ "__I'm more of a beach person." Confused, Annabeth looked at her companion, whose eyes were closed and was paling at the height. "Being up so high isn't really my thing."_

_She nodded. "So why did you decide to go on the Ferris wheel?"_

_When his eyes opened to stare at her, she knew his answer, and blushed foolishly. "Oh." This caused him to chuckle, and she joined in after a moment. His laugh was warm yet somehow, she felt there was an underlying… bitter? layer beneath it. _

_ "__Aren't you a wise girl," he joked, causing her to blush again._

_ "__Oh shuddup," she mumbled, looking out to the night sky again. "Besides, I'm not a girl; my birthday's in less than two months," she teased. _

_He was silent once more, and she took the time to take note that although he's quiet, he was considerably less pale. Despite his facial color, he didn't speak for the rest of the ride down, and she sighed to herself._

_Her eyes somehow had wandered back to him although she tried not to, and she watched him shake his head to himself. Annabeth could practically feel the anxiety bouncing off of him._

_When the ride finally jolted to a halt, he stood up quickly, opening the carriage door. Annabeth had the urge to ask him what his name was, but when he turned around, his sea green eyes flashing, she squelched the compulsion._

_He looked like he wanted to say something, to tell her something, but it also seemed like he was fighting a war within himself. About what, though?_

_And then she heard it._

_ "…__Two months…"_

_And then he was gone._


	5. Understanding

**A Thousand Years**

Chapter Five: Understanding

"_I have died every day waiting for you…"_

Over the days, life had been good. Annabeth had attended her "piano lessons" every day, Percy had been introduced to Piper and Jason—whom he had already seemed to befriended—and they all got along. And, of course, she had gotten closer to Percy.

Somehow, she had managed to invite him to the park—or perhaps it was the other way around, although that didn't matter—and somehow, he had agreed.

So here she is, walking silently under the shadows cast by the trees overhead, next to a boy that intrigues her. Annabeth stares at him, taking in his serene face. She had only seen this particular expression one other time, when she had listened in on him playing the piano.

There's a slight spring breeze fluttering through the air, accompanied by the buzzing of bees, and her pounding heart. It seems as if every moment more she spends with Percy, the more she wants… _more_.

There was so so much she wanted to know about him; so many unanswered questions she had but would never ask.

What did two months mean?

Where did he learn to play piano?

Did he think about her as much as she did him?

Annabeth flushes as her last question drifts into her mind. _Hush, Annabeth, _she scolds herself. _It's not like you've started to like him after, what, a week? _Her head turns so she's looking at Percy again, but this time, he glances at her simultaneously.

Their eyes meet, and he gives her a quick grin, turning her stomach—and her heart—into butterflies. Okay, so maybe she has a small crush on him. It's not like she was going to act out on it, possibly ever.

Senior year was going to end in less than two months, and depending on what college he went to, they'd never see each other again, unless they both decided to keep in touch with the other.

She stops herself yet again as she realizes which direction her thoughts were leading to. Was she really just imagining her future… with Percy?

"It's a nice day," Percy says, distracting Annabeth from her inner-mistake.

And it was indeed a nice day. Although the humidity could have dropped a tad, and the clouds could shroud the sun for minutes longer, it was a decent day for a walk in the park. Percy had overlooked those factors—that was a tendency Annabeth observed he did over the past week; overlook the negative.

She nods. "It's okay, I guess."

He stops walking, turning around to face her, causing Annabeth to wonder if she's done something wrong. Percy's eyes stare into hers with the same intensity she'd recognized the first time she saw him. "You don't understand," he says, reprimanding her with a headshake. "We're here—together—eating well, sleeping well, with clothes to cover us and a roof over our heads. The weather isn't killing us in some catastrophic earthquake or typhoon like it is in some third world country. Sure, it's a little hot, a little muggy, but at least we aren't suffering. At least we aren't… _dying_."

Percy lets out a sigh, looking at her with apologetic eyes, as he runs a hand through his messy black hair. He's sorry for ranting on her, but Annabeth waves it off, knowing she's the one who should be apologizing.

So maybe he didn't overlook the negative. Maybe he thought about all the negative things in the world so much, to the point where he couldn't help but block it all out in search for the beacon of light that would lead him to a better world.

He had started to walk slightly ahead of her now and so Annabeth admires him from behind. Percy's long, lean legs flexes every time he walks, and she can't tear her eyes away. When he looks over his shoulder at her, she quickly averts her gaze to the ground, heat creeping up on her cheeks.

At the sound of his laugh, she knows she's been embarrassingly caught, and Annabeth searches for a way to quickly change the unspoken subject. Her eyes drift to a playground to the left of the path they were walking on, and she jumps at the chance.

"Can we go there?" she asks eagerly, a bit sheepish at her childishness. _Once a child, always a child._

Percy gives her an amused sideways look, tucking his hands in his pockets and strolling off the path. "If you insist."

Annabeth all but runs to the swing set, _just _to get away from Percy, and she hops on the swing, reveling in the feeling of soaring through the air. Moments later, she feels warm hands rest on the small of her back for a mere moment, causing her to jump in her seat, yet be pushed higher into the air.

His deep laughter echoes around her as he continues to push her higher and higher on the swing, and soon enough, Annabeth finds herself joining in. Their laughter harmonizes, both of them with split-eating grins on their faces, and she finds herself to be truly happy for the first time in a while.

After a particularly strong push from Percy, he moves so he is now swinging beside her, rather than pushing Annabeth from behind. In a few swift pumps of his muscular legs, he's swinging in synchronization in the swing to her left, their laughter continuing to carry in the wind.

Annabeth spreads her arms out, no longer holding onto the metal ropes, as she closes her eyes, letting the wind blow around her. Fingers graze hers lightly—_Percy_—but she doesn't attempt to move them away, rather, allowing the slow, electric tingle build from within her.

Her legs stop kicking and she slows down, finally opening her eyes. Percy's staring at her, his swing decelerating as well, their fingertips still touching.

Their hands line up, palms matched against each other, and she can't remember who first initiated it. All Annabeth can focus on is how much bigger his hand is than hers, and the steady flow of electricity he emits.

And then ever so slowly, their fingers entwine, although she's no longer focusing on their interlocked hands. No, Annabeth can't break the connection her gray eyes have with his sea green ones.

It seems like almost eternity until they finally let go, dust themselves off, and continue their walk back home in silence.

Something had happened when they were at the swings… but Annabeth couldn't figure out what exactly it was.

Nevertheless, she was bound to figure it out eventually.

Even if meant confronting Percy about it herself.

"_Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you…"_


	6. Envy

**A Thousand Years**

Chapter Six: Envy

_"For a thousand years…"_

"Hi, you're new here, right?"

Percy turns to face the new voice—a light, female one, with a hint of an accent—and he gives a small, awkward smile. "Uh, yeah. Last week." His sea green eyes look her over, before he conclusively decides that she's pretty. Slightly eccentric looking, but undoubtedly pretty.

Not beautiful like Annabeth, though. He shakes his head to himself, refocusing his gaze on the smiling girl before him. She had long, caramel hair, pulled back into a neat bun, loose strands of hair falling into her almond eyes.

"I'm Calypso," she introduces with a soft smile.

He nods slowly. "Percy." Percy smiles faintly at the memory of the park… the swings… Annabeth._ How long was it until school ended… when he would see Annabeth again?_

"Well we should get to work, shouldn't we?" Calypso suggests, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and twirling a pencil in her fingers. At his confused expression, she laughs and clarifies: "We were assigned to analyze the text?"

Percy shakes his head, clearing his thoughts of Annabeth in attempt to focus on what he was supposed to be doing for this class. "Ah. Right."

Calypso laughs again, her giggles light and melodic, and he joins in slightly with her. God, he was such a nimrod. Especially around Annabeth. Especially when he was just thinking about her.

It had to stop before it got too far.

:-:-:-:-:

She recognizes his messy flop of black hair standing above the crowd of people before she actually sees him. People, in efforts to rush home, were crowding the hallways, making it nearly impossible to get to him. Yet, Annabeth persists, struggling to fight through the crowd and make it over to him.

She's caught in the mass of moving bodies, trudging her way over to Percy, when suddenly, she stops. There's a girl beside him with long, luscious, caramel curls, walking beside him as they talk and laugh together.

An unfamiliar feeling erupts from deep within her, and after a moment's thought, Annabeth realizes what she's feeling. _Jealousy_. Troubled, she stops in the middle of the hallway, causing people to walk around her as they make their way out.

Her heart flutters as she remembers their trip to the park together, but when Annabeth thinks about Percy and the other girl, it drops below her stomach. Indeed, she was jealous. Utterly, terribly, irrevocably jealous.

"Annabeth!" a voice calls from somewhere around her. For a moment, her heart soars, wondering if it was Percy, but turning around, she soon recognizes it as Piper. "You're still coming over to my house today, right?"

Piper's hand is intertwined with Jason's, and Annabeth is brought back to the day at the park before she shakes her head, breaking out of her reverie. "Oh, yeah, of course!"

Her friend looks at her accusingly. "You forgot, didn't you?"

Annabeth shakes her head with a small laugh. "It wasn't that I forgot, but simply that I didn't know who was talking to me." Okay, so maybe it was a half-lie, but it was a partial-truth too though, right? She shifts uncomfortably.

Piper shrugs it off, hugging Jason and giving him a peck on the cheek, causing his cheeks to redden, and the two girls to laugh. "I'll see you later, Jace," she coos teasingly. Annabeth says her goodbye as well, and the two make their way out to Piper's car.

"So you and Jason seem to be going strong," Annabeth teases lightheartedly. "When are you guys going to finally kiss?"

Piper laughs at Annabeth's mocking inquisitions and shakes her head. "I've kissed a lot of guys before; it's not like it's my first…"

Annabeth's eyebrows rise as she senses that Piper's biting back words. "But?"

She shakes her head again, letting out a deep breath. Her kaleidoscope eyes are focused on the road as Piper says her next words. "But, I mean, I really think that this might be… different, in a way. I really think he's the one, and I just want everything to go perfectly, you know?"

Nodding her head mutely, Annabeth looks out the car window at the passing houses. "I know." Maybe a little too well.

Piper lets out a groan, and Annabeth can't tell if she's playing around or being serious. "I was never this… lovey-dovey before, was I? This is what Jason turns me into, and I want to hate it, but I can't."

"Sometimes you just have to let go and let yourself love," Annabeth murmurs quietly, startled at the fact that she had said it out loud. Piper wasn't meant to hear that, but of course, she does, and she stops the car in front of her house.

"What?" Piper questions, her perfect eyebrows creasing. "What did you just say?"

Annabeth shakes her head lightly, pretending she had never said anything, and gets out of the car, Piper following suit.

"No seriously, what did you say?" she persists, causing Annabeth to sigh in frustration. "I mean, I know what you said, but why did you say it?"

"Because I wanted to tell you it?" Annabeth offers weakly.

Piper's eyebrows furrow as she looks at Annabeth from across the top of her car. "Is it because of the new kid, Percy? Do you… like him?"

"Is it wrong if I did like him?" she retorts defensively, cringing when she hears her sharp, evasive tone. "Not that I do." Annabeth winces even more. Stupid!

Across from her, Piper looks like she's about to burst into a fit of laughter. "No no no, nothing's wrong with that. It's just that… isn't it a little soon?"

Annabeth shrugs, looking away from Piper as she digs her hands into her pockets. "Well maybe I'm looking for The One, just like you. And maybe it's him. Even if it's a little soon, I could potentially have a whole lifetime to get to know him." Her voice is low, but just audible enough for Piper to hear.

Her friend nods understandingly. "Well… if Jason and I didn't work out, and you and Percy didn't get together, I would totally hit him up," she says slyly. "He is mighty fine."

This causes Annabeth to laugh, the serious talk and tension set aside for now. They enter Piper's home—her parents working at the moment—and settle down on the couch, snacking on random foods and drinking juice out of the boxes like they did when they were younger.

"I can't believe senior year is finally almost over!" Piper exclaims, throwing her head back as she reclines on the couch.

Annabeth tosses a goldfish into her mouth, leaning back on the couch. "It's gone by so quickly," she muses quietly. She had gotten accepted into a variety of colleges—all of which, she hadwanted to go to—but now she had a little under a month to figure out which she wanted to attend. Recently, she had been delaying her final decision even more… and she had an inkling feeling of exactly why she was.

It was all because of—

"There's like, what, less than two months left?"

—Percy.

Her throat tightened at Piper's words. Two months. The same words Percy had said the first time they had met, the same words that she had failed to find the meaning behind. The same words that haunted her in her dreams.

"Annabeth?" Piper asks hesitantly. "Is everything… all right?"

"He never told me what that meant…" she murmurs to herself, before realizing Piper had addressed her. "Um, what?"

Piper's eyes are focused on her, the color now a golden hazel. "He… as in Percy, I presume… never told you what?"

Annabeth shakes her head. "It's nothing."

Her friend lets out a deep groan of annoyance and frustration. "You keep saying 'it's nothing' but I know it's something. It's just that you don't tell me anything anymore!"

Looking at Piper, guilt clear in her gray eyes, Annabeth runs a hand through her blond curls, debating whether she should tell Piper about her mini crisis. "I'm sorry… I really am… but I'm just so… stuck on this, I don't know what to do."

"Well maybe if you told someone about it, they could help you with it!" Piper remarks pointedly, pulling on one of her messily made braids that adorn her choppy hair. "I could help you with it!"

"I know… I just, he just, he confuses me so, so much."

Her kaleidoscope eyes soften as Piper stares at a stressed Annabeth. "What happened?"

Annabeth looks at her friend and lets out a deep a decision, she begins to tell Piper about her ride on the Ferris wheel with Percy… all the way from the beginning when she first saw him, to the end, with him leaving abruptly.

Whilst she's speaking, Annabeth can feel Piper's furrowed stare. She's just as much confused as Annabeth is. "…Two months?"

She shrugs. "Exactly what I've been trying to figure out."

Piper laughs slightly, trying to make light of the situation. "I'm sure you've been beating yourself up for not figuring it out by now."

Offering a smile at Piper, Annabeth sighs. "There's just so many things that can happen within two months."

Piper nods in understanding. "The question is, which one was he referring to?"

_"I'll love you for a thousand more."_


End file.
